32Red Poker fans might not be too surprised to learn that Microgaming enjoyed success at the recent 2011 EGR B2B Awards. Held at Chelsea Football Club, e-Gaming Review’s award ceremony is the established premier recognition ceremony in the industry, and rewards the top service providers and B2B operators in online gaming.

I’ve been writing for years about the initial global online poker explosion and the subsequent boom, and the game and this user-friendly format continue to be as popular as ever. Indeed with online gaming and poker rooms now enjoying ‘everyday’ exposure in the form of various sponsorship deals such as 32Red’s with the English Premier League newcomers, Swansea, for example, then it’s just as important to achieve industry recognition now as it was in the early days. Thus it should be reassuring to 32red players that Microgaming won the 2011 EGR B2B Poker Network of the Year award (as well as picking up an award for Innovation in Slot Provision).

Phil Ivey-Full Tilt: Round 2

Meanwhile, the Phil Ivey-Full Tilt battle escalated to a war of words following Ivey’s lawsuit about what he perceives as inaction regarding players’ account problems following the clampdown by the US Department of Justice.

Here is Tiltware’s rather combative response:

“Contrary to his sanctimonious public statements, Phil Ivey’s meritless lawsuit is about helping just one player – himself. In an effort to further enrich himself at the expense of others, Mr. Ivey appears to have timed his lawsuit to thwart pending deals with several parties that would put money back in players’ pockets. In fact, Mr. Ivey has been invited — and has declined — to take actions that could assist the company in these efforts, including paying back a large sum of money he owes the site. Tiltware doubts Mr. Ivey’s frivolous and self-serving lawsuit will ever get to court. But if it does, the company looks forward to presenting facts demonstrating that Mr. Ivey is putting his own narrow financial interests ahead of the players he professes to help.”